The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 06:33 PM

At Least Seven Injured, One Missing In LA Oil Rig Explosion Sunday Night

At least seven people are injured and one person is missing after an oil rig exploded Sunday night in Louisiana.

Kenner Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Kriss Fortunato said that at least seven people were injured and authorities were actively searching for one missing person, The Times-Picayune reported.

Officials from the St. Charles Parish wrote on Facebook that "The Emergency Operations Center is aware that an oil platform is currently on fire in Lake Pontchartrain and that it caused the loud sound earlier tonight. Officials are responding."

The U.S. Coast Guard is also responding, according to a Facebook post from the Jefferson Parish.

Rescue boats are being dispatched from the Kenner Boat Launch and officials with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office are assisting with rescue efforts, The Times-Picayune reported.

Mike Guillot, director of East Jefferson Emergency Medical Services said that the two individuals brought in are in stable condition but the other five brought to the University Medical Center are in critical condition with "blast type injuries and burns," the Times-Picayune reported.

Andrew Love, who lives about 10 blocks away from the explosion, told The Times-Picayune that his "house actually shook."

"At first I thought it was a sonic boom or something," Love said. "I had no idea what was happening."

Roger Fernandez said the explosion "shook me out of my couch."

The rig, according to The New Orleans Advocate, is operated by CLOVELLY Oil.

Lake Pontchartrain is roughly a 30-minute drive north of North Orleans.